Is Marvel Killing Hollywood?

One of the most anticipated film premieres is now a fact. “Avengers: Infinity War,” earned the stunning $ 258.2 million dollars for just the first weekend. You don’t have to be an expert to figure out that it will make a profit of more than one billion dollars. Not bad at all, huh?

Not to mention that the premiere in Russia was just yesterday (03.05), and the one for China is next week – 11.03. These two huge markets will bring extra revenue to the film. Let’s not also forget that the “Infinity War” predecessor, “The Black Panther” already made $ 690 million. To get the full picture, add to all this the upcoming flicks “Ant-man and the Wasp”, ”Venom,” and “Deadpool 2” and at the end of the year, Marvel will be getting record-breaking numbers.

“Where is the problem here?” you would ask. These guys definitely know how to make good movies. They invest a lot of money and effort in them and eventually they get a good return for their work. This is actually true but that is not the issue here. The problem is entirely indirect. It’s about the impact this is having on the entire film industry.

Avengers: Infinity War

The main question still remains: “How can the film industry keep up with the phenomenon called Marvel?”. We have already witnessed films that have long dominated the box office charts, such as “Avatar” and “Titanic”, but nothing can be compared to what we see here, today.

Now the bar is raised so high to that point where every new Marvel movie invariably becomes a massive blockbuster. There is also no indication that this total dominance will end anytime soon. The company is currently working hard on creating sequels and entirely new movies that will be released in cinemas in the next 2-3 years.

With all that in mind, can we say that Marvel is slowly killing Hollywood? It’s difficult to give a certain answer to this. On the one hand, their stunning success can be seen as a symptom of the viewer’s demand for a change. It can also be interpreted as a reaction to the fact that the quality of Hollywood movies has been drastically dropping in the recent years.

For example, the 90th Academy Awards Ceremony has scored its lowest rating for quite some time – only 26.5 million viewers, which is 20% lower than last year’s awards. This is indicative of the low interest in what is being created at the moment. So, basically, when you look at it from that point of view, Marvel’s success is not surprising at all.

Marvel fans at San Diego Comic-Con.

In addition to the earnings, Marvel’s films are extremely successful in another sphere, which may be the key to their success. The company is creating movies intended for a huge circle of people. They are entertaining and fun and can be watched by any type of audience, regardless of age, gender, religion, etc. Also, the quality of every next movie that comes out is getting higher and higher and this is very noticeable to the public.

There is also something else here that is very decisive. Anyone who ever saw a Marvel movie can easily associate with at least one of the characters in it. That immediately creates a sense of empathy in the viewer. This is one of the main reasons why so many fans want to return to the movie theaters again and again. They just want to find out what’s going to happen to their beloved character.

Bringing up such a topic can be tricky. After all, Marvel is bringing millions of people to the theatres worldwide, every day. So, how can that be bad for the industry? In a way, some movies can steal the spotlight. That means that other productions get less attention from the public. You can ask yourself – “How many times have I read, watched or heard something about “Infinity War” and “Black Panther” compared to, let’s say “The Isle of Dogs”, “The Big Sick” and “The Death of Stalin”?

Burj Khalifa in Dubai – 2 days until the premierе of “Avengers: Infinity War”

The huge profits made by the Marvel films turned the company into a huge marketing machine that now dominates the social media. The enormous ad displayed on the Burj Khalifa, the dozens of comic-cons, press conferences, tv and internet materials and commercials. The list goes on and on. So if you’ve missed a couple of great movies this year due to the advertising brainstorm caused by Marvel, it’s totally understandable.

It’s not a big surprise. We will probably witness another decade dominated entirely by Marvel. The lessons that the rest of the industry can get out of this situation are very important and can be crucial. Now the filmmakers will have to work even harder than usual to get the people to watch their movies. The viewer’s taste is constantly changing, and Hollywood must have that in mind. Eventually, all this may have a positive effect and sooner or later, Hollywood will return even stronger than ever!